Roccat Suora FX Gaming Keyboard Review – Keystroke of Genius?

When it comes to building a gaming rig most of the money goes into the graphics card, cpu, ram and sexy 4K screen before there has been any consideration for the peripherals that you will be using to input your every command into your machine. The interface that you choose may seem insignificant in the grand scheme of things however you could not be further from the truth when it comes to the ways they can be customised to ensure that you are playing at top efficiency.

For mice I recently took a look at the Roccat Kone Aimo Gaming Mouse and was wowed at the different configurations that were possible when gaming to make the experience so much smoother. For the last few weeks I have been using the Roccat Suora FX Gaming Keyboard and it is seriously something else.

The first thing you notice with the Suora FX gaming keyboard is the amazing RGB lighting that, just like the Kone Aimo mouse, is totally customisable through the Roccat Swarm app. From multicoloured scrolling to lighting effects whereby a button press causes a ripple of light to cascade across the keyboard, the Suora FX certainly makes for an eye catching addition to your gaming rig boasting 16.8M different colour shades. You can quickly recall your favourite lighting effect by holding down the function key and pressing from F1 to F4.

The second thing you will notice is that the keyboard is frameless and this makes it look fairly compact, especially without a palm rest or chunky bit of plastic going around the outside of it. The lack of frame not only aids the RGB lighting feature by enhancing the amount of glow you can see but also allows for easy maintenance should you ever do the unthinkable and drop crumbs of food onto the keyboard. You maybe thinking that without a frame to hold it all together the keyboard will seem flimsy, well Roccat have thought of this and built the bed of the Suora FX in aluminium alloy which certainly makes it feel solid. The base of the Suora FX has rubber feet at the front to stop it from sliding about and rear legs to angle the keyboard towards you slightly. A single braided USB cable is the only lead that leaves the Suora FX and there are not any extra USB ports on the keyboard itself.

Mechanical keyboards are thankfully the gaming trend once more, resurrected from the 80’s due to their accuracy, durability and responsiveness. Each key press on the Suora FX feels raw and significant as opposed to when playing using a standard membrane keyboard. Ok, mechanical keys are certainly a lot louder when pressed in comparison, much to the annoyance of the wife, however the anti-ghosting matrix ensures that every key stroke is registered and if button spamming is your primary concern fear not as the Suora FX has a 1ms polling rate as well as a 50 million keystroke lifecycle!

The Suora FX can control your music and volume level as well as start various applications such as internet browsers, email, etc., with a quick press of a one of the keys spread across the top of the keyboard. One feature that is on most Roccat peripherals is the “EasyShift” that allows you to toggle an alternate function for the buttons. On the Suora FX there is a dedicated “Gaming Mode” button that once pressed does pretty much the same thing. Using the Roccat Swarm software the keys can all be mapped to suit your needs and allocated to one of 5 profiles. Profiles can be imported and exported with a library of game key associations already available to choose from within the Swarm software. In addition to the key assignments there are also six buttons located above the arrow keys that through the software allow you to record and assign macros to, useful for recalling quick button combinations during a game.

The Roccat Suora FX is a solid and visually stunning gaming keyboard with enough functionality to cater for the most avid of gamers. With a price tag of around £120, you are paying for a Rolls Royce of a keyboard, but it certainly does deliver with great build quality and functionality. The ease of using the Swarm software to configure the key layout, awesome lighting and personalised macros means that you can set the Suora FX up perfectly to suit your needs.